Brazil: The Antipatriotic Triumph Of Travancas the Terrible

In colonial days, Brazilians consid ered it
an act of patriotism to refuse to pay taxes to their Portuguese
masters.
Such patriotism dies hard. Last year, in fact, after 143 years of
independence, more than half of Brazil's 200,000 self-employed doctors,
lawyers, small busi nessmen and farmers still refused to file tax
returns, and the government figures that 95% of those who did file
cheated. Indeed, had it not been for the compulsory withholding taxes
taken out of wage earners' paychecks, the gov ernment might well have
used up its entire income tax receipts just to pay the salaries...